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Sherwood falls to Lakers in playoff clash

The Bowmen's season ends with a second-round postseason setback to the Lakers

The Sherwood football team overcame a lot during its 2017 campaign.

The Bowmen battled back from a slow start, fought through a potentially devastating three-game losing streak and then dumped 16th-ranked Liberty on the road in their Class 6A state playoff opener.

But on Friday, top-ranked Three Rivers League co-champion Lake Oswego was just too much.

Lake Oswego may have played its best game of the season Friday night, scoring on all seven of its possessions, holding a solid Sherwood team to just 128 yards in total offense and posting a dominant 45-0 win in the second round of the Class 6A state playoffs at Lake Oswego High School.

"It's been quite a ride this year, but we fought every week to get better," said senior cornerback and team captain Takumi Kammerzell. "We just wanted to see where we could go and see how far we could take this, but unfortunately, it had to end for us this week."

"I think sometimes we shot ourselves in the foot so we're definitely going to have to clean that up," said junior running back Ian Stormont. "It was all about everybody coming together on the team. You could see that everyone's emotional. It's not just the seniors. I think that just really showed what happened this year."

With the loss, No. 18 Sherwood saw its 2017 season end at 5-6 overall after finishing in a fifth-place tie in the ultra-competitive Three Rivers League.

With the win — the team's eighth straight — Lake Oswego improved its overall record to 10-1 and set the stage for its quarterfinal matchup against No. 9 Jesuit on Friday. The Lakers will host the 10-1 Metro League champion Crusaders — 56-7 winners at Sprague in round two — at 7 p.m. Friday.

"Our coaches had been telling us all week that this was going to be a big physical game and we prepared a lot," said senior lineman and team captain Dawson Jaramillo. "We came in on Sunday and watched film and lifted and prepared. The whole week we were preparing for a fight and that's what it was and we played our best game and it showed."

"I just feel like we worked hard all week," said junior running back Collin Bracken, who carried nine times for 127 yards and three touchdowns. "We got the plan down, we put in the work and we deserved this 'W.'"

The Lakers forced a three-and-out on the game's first possession, then put together a 72-yard scoring drive that took seven plays and just 3 minutes, 11 seconds off the clock, a series capped by Bracken's 31-yard run up the middle to score. Jake Bazant followed with the first of his six extra points to make it 7-0.

LO forced another quick Sherwood punt on the Bowmen's next series, and the Lakers came back with an 80-yard TD drive that took nine plays and 3:09, this time with senior quarterback Jake Dukart throwing to senior wide receiver Jordan Newlin for a 46-yard over-the-shoulder touchdown catch at the left flag to boost their team's lead to 14-0.

After another quick Lake Oswego defensive stop at the end of the first quarter, the Lakers scored again in just six plays. Bracken apparently scored on a 31-yard run around right end, only to see it called back on a holding penalty. But on the very next play, Bracken went up the middle for 41 yards, another TD and a 21-0 lead.

"I feel like we've got a lot of weapons on offense," Bracken said. "I just feel like we have a lot of options — we can throw the ball to so many people and we can run the ball with so many people — it just works."

"We have so many weapons — it's so much fun to have three really good running backs that can run all over the defense and it's so much fun to block for them," Jaramillio added.

Sherwood came back with its second-best drive of the game, getting a 25-yard halfback pass from senior Zach Jenkins to senior tight end Zane Sands, a five-yard Jenkins run and a Lake Oswego personal foul to reach the Lakers' 44-yard line, but the Bowmen's success ended there.

Sherwood gave back 15 yards on two straight penalties, lost another yard on its next three plays and had to punt again.

The Lakers took the ensuing possession and drove 54 yards to score again, this time seeing Dukart get the touchdown on a two-yard keeper to make it 28-0 with 2:24 left in the half.

Sherwood opened the second half with an onside kick by sophomore Kaedin Steindorf that senior teammate Jaret Scott recovered at the Lake Oswego 47, but again, the Bowmen couldn't convert and punted after three downs.

The Lakers responded with a 10-play, 56-yard scoring drive, the last nine of those plays on the ground, with senior Alex Bassett carrying seven times for 34 yards, including the two-yard score off right guard to make it 35-0 with 5:04 to go in the third.

Sherwood gave the ball back again three minutes later, and this time, Lake Oswego needed just two plays to score, with Bracken taking a pitch from Dukart over the right side and racing 45 yards for another TD that made it 42-0 with 2:05 to go in the third.

After another misfire by the Bowmen offense — it was whistled for two more penalties for 20 yards and failed to convert on a fourth-and-three from its own 27 — the Lakers were back in business once more.

While LO did not reach the end zone again, Bazant connected for a 21-yard field goal that made it 45-0 and triggered a running clock over the final 4:17.

"They played a phenomenal game early," Kammerzell said. "They're a great team, they've got a ton of great athletes and they know how to move the ball on offense. It was tough to come back."

"They got some big plays and they scored early … I think (big plays were) something we lacked all year," Stormont said.

For the game, Bassett added 85 yards and one TD on 14 carries, Dukart went 8 of 13 passing for 126 yards and one TD, with Newlin making three catches for 68 yards and one TD. For Sherwood, Ryan Scroggin carried six times for 26 yards, while Zettlemoyer went 4 of 12 passing for 55 yards.

For Lake Oswego, the defensive effort was the story of the day.

"Sherwood has a great offense. It's really hard to defend so we came in Sunday, got the game plan and executed well," said senior lineman Shawn Elliott. "I give that to all our coaches. … They give us all our game plan and we all executed our jobs and it turned out well."

"I've got to give a shout-out to (defensive coordinator) Frank Everhart because this Wing-T, he's got it down," said senior linebacker and captain Sam Haney. "He's got a plan for us and we go through it so much, getting our reads, it's like second nature and then it's just going out and executing in the real game."

Contact Sports Editor Miles Vance at 503-330-0127 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..